Thread: Did anyone else notice?

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I'm thinking that as the sponsors back away.. so will all the "other" series.. Say so long to trucks and the craftsman series, nationwide will become a part time series I think.

So, I'll bring up the point I always get pounded on. Instead of sitting on your butt watching racing that you really don't like, why not spend a few days at your local drag strip helping out some young kid who will actually appreciate it!!! Bracket racing, be it cars or junior dragsters, is where the next generation of racers is coming from!!!

Add up the costs of going to any big NASCAR race or NHRA national event. Time off from work, travel, room, eats, tickets, souvenirs, and all the other stuff..... Buy some parts for this young bracket racer you met from just hanging out at the drags....Give you three guesses (and the first two don't count) where your money is appreciated!!!!!

Or, just sit back and complain about how terrible all forms of Motorsports are and watch them all slowly fade away!!!!!

If you're not part of the solution, then you must be part of the problem!!!!

Ok, bang away about how boring bracket racing is, especially those of you who have never done it for a few seasons, or wax nostalgic about how much better heads up racing was in "the good old days"... Well, you probably can't afford to be competitive in many forms of heads up racing (exception is maybe the new Coyote sealed engine class).

Soap box put away for another season.

Can't disagree, Dave, but like many other places the local drag strip in KC closed down and sold the land to a housing developer a while back - ended about sixty years or more of history for the local drag scene, and the kids lost their place for grudge matches, heads up run-what-ya-brung racing, and test & tune runs. Sure, there's Heartland Park over in Topeka but it's a place that caters to the big NHRA events. Down south you can find MoKan Dragway, outside of Asbury, but that's about three to four hours away, a pretty good hike unless you're spending a night or two stimulating the local economy. It's not getting easier....

Happening in far too many places Roger!!! I really hope the city fathers and hot shot developers are ready for the kids to be taking it to the streets again!!!! Way I see it, the city is going to get exactly what they deserve!!!!

I don't like "SPEC" racing, I don't like bracket racing


Give me a weight limit and simple rule set like maybe its got to have doors, carburators---no hydrazine, etc or maximum wheel base----------but don't tell me I can't go quicker than-----------,I 've got to have this spec sealed engine and make both sides of the tree work at the same time(think how much energy we'd save with just one set of lights) Hemmmmmmmmmm maybe put up a staged bulb, a green go and a red bulb)))))

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

I don't like "SPEC" racing, I don't like bracket racing


Give me a weight limit and simple rule set like maybe its got to have doors, carburators---no hydrazine, etc or maximum wheel base----------but don't tell me I can't go quicker than-----------,I 've got to have this spec sealed engine and make both sides of the tree work at the same time(think how much energy we'd save with just one set of lights) Hemmmmmmmmmm maybe put up a staged bulb, a green go and a red bulb)))))

Yup, and may the biggest checkbook win!!!!

If you set the Pro series--Top Fuel, Funny Car---classes aside----


I have seen more check writer issues with the so called sportsman classes than the pro classes----


Even tho today, it is very big operators in the pro ranks, the bigger check book doesn't necessarily win-------


And as for TEAMS----a team should be limited to one car per class---one tf,fc,ps!!!!!!!!!!!!!not enough to cover half the latter---------

Maybe, or maybe not good ideas....but I doubt that NHRA will be instituting any of that as rules, Jerry...

Once you're in the Pro ranks, all the checkbooks are big or they wouldn't be there in the first place!!!


Anyway, my concern (as it's always been) isn't with the Pro teams, or even the upper echelons of Sportsman's classes, it's with the kid and his Dad, or the kid and his buddies just starting out in drag racing!!! Bracket racing is the only thing they have enough knowledge to handle, or money to compete with! Their mid 15 second whatever can be just as competitive bracket racing as the high dollar 10 second car parked next too them!!!! I was (decades back) a hired gun in Super Stock, later in Top Alcohol. Especially with the Super Stock car I drove, the guy who ran things probably spent more per month then most of our competitor's spent in a season!!! Heck yeah, we won a lot! Big money gets you the good car, crew, and driver it takes to win. That's how Sportsman racing works.

The Pro's don't need my help, NHRA doesn't ask me my opinion, but these brand new participants just in their first or second year of drag racing are the one's that need the help!!!! A few of the good parts, a bit of help and advice on setting up a chassis and other such things will be appreciated by them a whole lot more then if I were at Pomona walking around with a brand new "Cruz" hat!!!!!!

If I had a ton of money so I could build my own track and run my own rules I'd do things different....but that ain't gonna happen so we've got to do the best we can with what the rules and budget allows......

I think that both of us have an opinion that would sorta border on the fact that the SPORTSMAN classes are purty (checkbook)Professional---------?????????


The bracket classes does allow good racing but even tho I have some friends/customers running the SUPER classes I hate that group of classes-------he runs superstreet (10.80?) and has a 3 second shut off right after leaving the line??? to come back on and chase the opponent whp also is doing something along the same lines???????????


the modified/comp classes that run against an index do some serious racing but for what????????and I see a lot of very big rigs in the pits-------

As for helping some guys with a chassis set up or similar thing-----man , you can see on here how much confusion there is about geometry in suspensions and then you want to talk weight transfer, instant centers, shock valving???????????I thought wheelie bars was for appearance???????????

Yeah, I ran Super Gas a few years....till it became the "who's best at setting the throttle stop" class..... Nothing like it was in the early 80's when I ran it. I now prefer the "no-box, no brake" brackets now, still all about consistency and tuning the engine and suspension to run that dial in!!!!! Had a kid (25) driving the car this year that is gonna be real good!!! Won the class for the track, runner-up at Divisionals, and just runner upped again at the big bucks bracket race in Douglas, Wy.!!!! His "package" at the Divisional finals was .004 off, and he lost!!!! Doesn't get much more competitive then that in any class, Pro, Sportsman, or weekender!!!!!

I did like the old Super Stock index, that was good racing!!!! Got to be a real chess game in the Division on who wanted to punch out the index, lower it, then defend it against everyone else!!!! There was probably $40K in that car and operation, would take $140K to get close to it today...... I don't have that much money to spend on racing, too damn old and slow to be a hired gun anymore, so no-box brackets has become my home!!!!!

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

As for helping some guys with a chassis set up or similar thing-----man , you can see on here how much confusion there is about geometry in suspensions and then you want to talk weight transfer, instant centers, shock valving???????????I thought wheelie bars was for appearance???????????

I do a dozen or so cars a year on the scales, check out the shock valving, make some suggestions, etc. Like to think it helps out a few, at least they start to get the idea that it takes more then a killer engine to win a drag race!!!!

All of you guys have good points and it's the disappearance of the small local strips that will will kill drag racing if it's to be killed. However on the national level NHRA rolled the dice and lost. 1000' foot racing sucks, funny cars more closely resemble slot cars, and you can't come close to buying anything like a Pro Stock car off the show room floor as yo could in the 60's. I really don't care how much the participants love bracket racing, the fans don't and they pay the bills and delay boxes are another can of worms altogether. Gone are the days when the Surfers could go to the local bone yard and pull out a 392 and go fuel racing. One thing to remember, if you don't please the fans you lose. And why do you think Nostalgia racing is so popular?

Yep----it was really special to be out at Cordova for the 60th World Series(60 years) and they were parking them on the roadside as the place was full--------------


And I saw so many people that had been to my folks house to see the California Charger back in 71 and they came there because my cousins spread the word that I would be there----------


Oh well time to eat----------

I hate napcar
but I love local races of any kind.
it's fun.
I still need to go see the sand drags.